


Funhouses and Ice Cream

by FlowersOnMyMind



Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - No Pennywise (IT), Homophobia, Language, The Losers are all 15, bichie - Freeform, bill is so far gone for richie, for just a second
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-09
Updated: 2019-11-09
Packaged: 2021-01-25 20:27:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,049
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21362197
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FlowersOnMyMind/pseuds/FlowersOnMyMind
Summary: Soon the sky is lighting up with reds, whites, and blues. There's a series of cheers and claps from the people around them. The Losers all watch the sky amazed. Bill takes his eyes off the sky to look at the boy next to him. Richie's eyes are wide, his glasses making them look even bigger than normal, his mouth slightly open as he looked up. Bill watches as the fireworks flash blue, pink, green across Richie's face. This is why the fireworks are his favorite part of the 4th of July celebration. Because he gets to watch Richie.
Relationships: Ben Hanscom/Beverly Marsh, Bill Denbrough/Richie Tozier
Comments: 6
Kudos: 69





	Funhouses and Ice Cream

**Author's Note:**

> ~Okay, this is my first story in the It fandom, so I'm pretty nervous. Bichie is my It otp and needs more love! Andy really messed up by erasing their friendship. Bill and Richie were, in my opinion, the closest of the Losers in the book. Their friendship was beautiful! I tried writing Bill's stutter like Stephen King did in the book.~

The 4th of July celebration Derry holds every year is impatiently anticipated by the entirety of the town. The carnival is held in the center of town, right by the Paul Bunyon statue. It started early in the morning and lasted all day. At exactly 6:30 PM the fireworks started and lasted for the next three hours. 

Richie and Bill have been going together since they were little, and over the years were joined by Eddie, Stan and later on Ben, Beverly, and Mike. They would all meet at the Quarry and ride into town together on their bikes. 

Bill sat on the ground, leaning against a tree as he and Richie wait for the others to show up. He had watched Richie throw rocks over the drop off for a while before he leaned his head back and closed his eyes. He pictures the games they play every year and all the food they will eat. The fireworks are Bill's favorite part. The colors and the patterns, even the noises they make. But most of all, Bill likes the fireworks because Richie is always at his side to watch them with him. Oh yes, he can't wait for tonight. 

He's almost asleep when he feels something fall in his lap. He startles and sees Richie has laid his head in his lap. He's looking up at Bill with his goofy smile and his magnified eyes. "Hi." Bill smiles. 

"I'm bored, Bill," he whines. "Entertain me." 

"We're about to spend the day and a good part of the night playing games and eating carnival food. I think you can wait a few minutes until the guys show up." 

Richie gasps, his hands flying to his chest. "Bill! You wound me! How could you hurt me so! I thought you loved me!" 

Bill rolls his eyes lightly. "I do love you, you idiot." 

Richie stops and smiles widely. "Aw, Billiam!" He pokes Bill's cheek and Bill swats it away. "Why do I put up with you?" 

"You just said it yourself! You love me! And besides, we've been best friends since we were 5. So, whether you like it or not, you're stuck with me!" Richie takes his hand, intertwining their fingers and laying them upon his chest. Bill doesn't stop him. 

"Well, don't you two look cozy!" Mike says as he and Stan come riding up on their bikes. 

Richie stays where he's at, perfectly comfortable with his head in Bill's lap and their hands over his chest. Bill waves at them. The two pop their kickstands out and join them on the ground opposite of them, though still in the shade of the tree. 

Mike and Stan and the others are used to seeing this sort of thing with Bill and Richie. The two have always been close and touchy with each other. The Losers all know of their hidden feelings for one another and how ridiculous it is that they're both so oblivious. Eddie and Beverly even have a bet on who will confess their feelings first. Eddie says Bill, while Beverly's money is on Richie. 

Mike toys with the grass in front of him as Stan tells Bill and Richie about the birds he'd seen at the park a few days before. Mike grins, having heard it all on the way over. Soon, Beverly, Ben, and Eddie come riding up on their bikes. 

"About damn time!" Richie says, exasperatedly as he sits up. Bill misses the warmth even though it's 85 degrees out. "Chip, chip, cheerio my friends! On to the celebration!" He exclaims in his horrible British accent. He jumps up and runs over to his bike. The Losers all roll their eyes. 

"Seriously Bill," Eddie says, once they're all cycling down the road, "How do you do it?"

"Do what?" 

"Put up with Richie all the time." 

"Bill loves me, Spaghetti Man!" Richie says riding a circle around the Losers. "He even said so! Right, Big Bill?" 

Bill grins. "Yeah, yeah Rich. I love you." 

Richie smiles at him and just barely misses a mailbox, thus almost running into Eddie. Bill listens as Eddie yells at their Trashmouth and Richie spews out an inappropriate comeback. He shakes his head in amusement. 

At the celebration, they park their bikes in the bike stands. Ben uses his bike lock to secure his and Beverly's bikes to the poles. Stan uses his lock for his and Mike's. Eddie has one, and Bill and Richie share one. After buying bundles of tickets Richie shouts "Finally," and jumps on Bill's back. Bill laughs as he barely manages to secure his hands underneath Richie's thighs. With one hand on Bill's shoulder, he uses the other point ahead. "Onward!" 

The food stands are what they see first. A hotdog and corndogs stand, followed by cheeseburger and pizza stand, a funnel cake and pie stand, ice cream and soda stands, and the list goes on. Picnic tables are spread all around the food stands area. Most of them are full of families eating, friends laughing and talking excitedly, and couples sharing milkshakes. It was still fairly early and they decided to play some games before meeting up for lunch. 

The game booths were next. They always try to stay together, but after the first game, they always break apart. The Losers always stay together long enough to watch Beverly play the game where you use a bb gun rifle to shoot all the targets. She wins her first try every time. They're always impressed. 

After that, Ben and Eddie go to the ring toss booth, while Mike and Stan head for the game where you have to knock down all the bottles using a ball. Richie slides off Bill's back, but takes his hand and pulls him towards the funhouse. Since their first 4th of July Celebration, the two friends have done the funhouse together every year. It's a tradition of theirs. And just like always once they enter the three-story funhouse they hold hands. That tradition started when they were young and scared to go through the house by themselves. 

They climb the stairs, leading to the third story. The only lighting is from the glow and the dark accents from the props, and thin black lights on the ceiling. The first section is a series of obstacles they have to maneuver around such as stuffed clowns swinging back and forth from the ceiling, and a room full of bungee cords they had to either go over or under. That section particularly was hard to do while holding hands, but they weren't about to break tradition. They go through a room full of clear, thick plastic windows, which always takes them the longest, and they've never gone through it without running into one. They go across an unstable bridge that swayed from side to die, a narrow walkway with rolling metal cylinders on the floor that made them almost fall numerous times, and a small section of punching bags sticking out of the floor that they had to squeeze to get through. 

And finally, they see the light at the end of the tunnel. A rotating tunnel. The grip they had on each other tightened. Sometimes they try to run right through, others they go through slowly. This year they do something in the middle. They step inside carefully, Richie falling into Bill and Bill stumbling to keep their balance. Halfway through, they run and come staggering out of the tunnel, at last, panting and sweating. They look at each other and erupt in laughter. Bill looks down at their hands, their finger still entwined. "Wuh-ee should m-meet up with th-uh others," Bill says, "For lunch." 

"I want ice cream!" Richie announces, making Bill laugh. 

"Luh-et's eat s-s-ome food f-first. 

"Ice cream is food!"

"Let's e-heat food that i-isn't shu-ugar." 

Richie's shoulder slump. "Fine."

"I pr-promise I'll bu-uy you ice cr-cream later." 

Richie grins at Bill. "Okay, Big Bill." 

They sit around a picnic table, all sorts of carnival foods spread across the top. Eddie complains about salmonella and food poisoning but eats anyway. Beverly picks off everyone's trays, even though she has a cheeseburger in front of her. Richie makes rude gestures with his corndog, making Stan throw fries at him. Ben is telling Mike about the prize Beverly won him at the BB gun game. Bill watches his friends talk, laugh, and eat. He feels truly happy when they're all together, especially with Richie by his side. 

The rest of the day is spent playing games and eating. Beverly won more prizes. Mike won a small stuffed bear, which he gave to Stan. Bill, who is on the freshman baseball team, played the bottle game and won a stuffed turtle that fit into the palm of his hand. He gave it to Richie, who smiled and in a southern voice said, "Why, Billiam, you shouldn't have!" He dramatically fluttered his eyelashes and sighed dreamily at the taller teen as he leaned against Bill's chest. "Nu-thing but thu-hu best for our Tr-ah-shmouth." 

They play more games and meet up with the others hours later. They decide to get ice cream and Bill buys Richie a cone as he promised. Bill watches as Richie takes the first lick of his vanilla ice cream. He smiles when Richie's face lights up. 

They all sit under a tree. Bill and Richie sit side by side against the trunk, while Stan lays down, gazing up at the sky. Mike sits beside him, while Beverly lays with her head in Ben's lap, and Eddie sits not too far from her. "Wanna trade?" Richie asks Bill. He holds his vanilla out and Bill hands him his chocolate. "That's disgusting!" Exclaims Eddie. "Do you have any idea how many germs are in the human mouth? And besides, you have no idea where Richie's mouth has been." 

"Why don't you ask your mom, Eds?" 

"Beep-beep Richie," Beverly says as she licks her coffee ice cream. 

Richie snickers, leaning into Bill's side. Bill drapes an arm around his shoulders and they stay like that long after Richie stops laughing and long after they finish their frozen treats. 

"Oh shit," Eddie says, getting everyone's attention. "It's Bowers." They look over and across the way he and his gang are stomping through the crowd, knocking bags of popcorn from people's hands and swatting suckers from kids' hands. "Let's go," Stan says uneasily. 

"Luh-et's split u-up. We're e-easy to spuh-ot as a gr-group," Bill says. 

They split off in pairs, each going in different directions; Bill and Richie, Mike and Stan, and Eddie with Ben and Beverly. 

Richie looks back and sees Belch running after Mike and Stan, and Patrick and Vic running in the direction Eddie, Beverly, and Ben had gone. And Henry...Henry was after them. "Shit! Bill! Henry is coming!" 

Bill suddenly stops. Richie collides into him. "Why the hell are we stopping?!" Richie clutches Bill's hand as his heart beats harshly in his chest. Bill looks around them, searching for a place to hide. He has to get Richie away, has to keep Richie safe. 

He swallows thickly and then he sees the funhouse. "Cuh-ome on!" He jerks Richie behind him as he takes off running. When they make it to the funhouse Bill is quick to pull four tickets out of his pocket and hand them to the man. And up the stairs, they go. They just enter the building when they hear, "Hey! You need two tickets to go in there! Hey, you punk! Come back!" 

"Come on, h-hurry!" Bill shouts as he pulls Richie around the swinging clowns. In their haste to get through quickly, they get tangled in the bungee cords momentarily. "D-do yuh-ou see him?" 

Richie looks behind him, squinting. The glow in the dark accents being no help. "No! But he has to be close!" They make it to the section with all the windows and Bill leads them around the twists and turns for a bit. They stop, to catch their breath. "Oh shit," Richie mutters when he sees Henry at the end of the hall. "Oh, we're dead." He swallows around the lump in his throat, and wills panicked tears away, "We're dead! We're going to die, Bill! We're going to die!" Bill uses his free hand to cup Richie's cheek. "Hey, hey, hey! Look at me, _look at me_! It's okay, it's okay." He squeezes Richie's hand.

They hear Henry laugh maniacally and they look up. Henry reaches into his pocket and takes out his switchblade. The blade is out in a blink of an eye. "Looks like I'm going to kill me some faggots!" He spits. Henry has that crazy look in his eyes, that demented smile. The two teens back up as Henry runs at them, only for him to run straight into a window. He falls backward, landing on his butt, cupping his bleeding nose, his knife clattering on the ground.

Richie and Bill burst into laughter, grabbing onto each other's shirts as they gasp for air. After a moment, Bill squeezes Richie's hand. "Let's go." 

They go through the rest of the maze quickly, eager to find their friends. Bill sighs in relief when they step out into the sunlight. "That was the greatest thing to ever happen to us," Richie exclaims. 

"You're dead!" Henry roars as he comes stumbling out of the tunnel, nose still bleeding and having dripped on his gray t-shirt, nose still bleeding. 

"That's him! Right there! He didn't pay and I saw him knocking people over and causing a ruckus!" The man in charge of the funhouse says, coming up with a policeman in tow. And not just any policeman, but Officer Butch Bowers. Henry's face falls as his father walks up, a look of pure terror replaces the angry expression he had just seconds before. He flinches hard when his dad clamps a hand over his shoulder. Butch drags him off, yelling and cussing and the two boys sigh.

As they walk back to the tree, hoping to find the others there safe and sound, Bill tries to ignore how his and Richie's fingers are still entwined. He tries to ignore how fast and hard his heart beat. Ben, Beverly, and Eddie are at the tree. Beverly comes up to them, throwing her arms around them. "I'm glad you're okay." 

"Where's Mike and Stannie?" Richie asks. 

"Right here," they hear Stan say and they turn to see the two walking up. 

"We were this close," Richie holds up his index finger and thumb, just barely touching, "to death." Richie goes onto tell them about the whole Henry ordeal. The Losers all crack up, some leaning on each other, holding their sides. 

"Criss and Patrick ran by as soon as the hot dog guy was dumping out the old hot dog water. They got drenched!" Eddie exclaims. 

"They'll smell like hotdogs for days!" Ben laughs, rolling onto his back in the grass. 

"Belch ran into a group of old ladies and they began hitting him with their purses," Mike tells them, sending them into another fit of laughter. 

They lounge in the grass and talk for a while. Richie's hand is no longer in Bill's much to Bill's dismay, but Richie is leaning against him, so there's that. Bill got him and Richie ice cream again. He loves seeing Richie's face light up. It's better than eating his ice cream. 

The sun gets lower and lower in the sky until it disappears completely. "What time is it?" Beverly asks her head in Stan's lap, her feet in Ben's. Eddie looks at his watch. "A little after 6." 

"Fireworks will start soon," Mike says. 

"W-wuh-ell, we ha-ave our spo-ot," Bill says. 

Soon the sky is lighting up with reds, whites, and blues. There's a series of cheers and claps from the people around them. The Losers all watch the sky amazed. Bill takes his eyes off the sky to look at the boy next to him. Richie's eyes are wide, his glasses making them look even bigger than normal, his mouth slightly open as he looked up. Bill watches as the fireworks flash blue, pink, green across Richie's face. This is why the fireworks are his favorite part of the 4th of July celebration. Because he gets to watch Richie. 

Yes, the fireworks are beautiful, but why watch them when he can watch Richie? 

Richie slowly takes his gaze off the night sky to meet Bill's eyes. Their faces are so close. It would be easy for Bill to lean in and finally do something he's been dreaming about for years. Before either boy realized what was happening, they leaned in and their lips brushed against each other. Their lips part, a hair width before connecting again. This time harder, more confident. Bill can taste the vanilla ice cream on Richie's lips. 

The next time they part, they look at one another. Bill swallows thickly, while Richie licks his lips. 

"About fucking time!" They hear Eddie exclaim, bringing them out of their gaze. The Losers are all looking at them, goofy wide smiles on their faces. Bill feels his cheeks grow hot. 

"I'll say, they've practically been dating for years," Mike says, making Stan chuckle. 

"Alrigh' y'all git own back to the fireworks now!" Richie says in his Southern accent, his cheeks bright pink. 

Stan rolls his eyes but turns his attention back to the sky. Eddie threatens them with 'No funny business, you guys! I fucking mean it!' Beverly winks at them. And then they're all looking back up at the sky. Except for Bill and Richie, who meet each others' eyes again. "I-I ruh-really luh-ike you," Bill says softly. 

"I really like you too." 

"Can I kiss you?" Bill whispers, not stuttering once. 

"You don't have to ask, Big Bill." 

Bill leans in and presses their lips together. It's everything Bill ever thought it would be and more. When they part, Richie smiles shyly at him for once in life he doesn't have anything to say and Bill chuckles. He's the reason for their Trashmouth being speechless. 

Richie is just so damn beautiful. Richie leans against Bill and Bill laces their fingers together as they watch the fireworks.

**Author's Note:**

> ~Okay, there you have it! Sorry for any mistakes. This is just one of the few Bichie fics I have. The others are works in progress. Come find me on Tumblr; FlowersOnMyMind1016. My ask box is always open. Feel free to message me too!~


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